Article 15

Liability for damage

15.1 General Provisions

15.1.1 Our own liability and the liability of each Carrier involved in your journey will be determined by the Convention, applicable laws and by our Conditions of carriage or by the Conditions of carriage of the Carrier concerned.

15.1.3 If your carriage is not subject to the liability rules of the Convention, the provisions of Swiss law shall apply; the following provisions shall also apply.

15.1.4 Any liability we have for Damage will be reduced or will be excluded in accordance with applicable law by any negligence on your part which causes or contributes to the Damage or if it is caused or contributed to by third parties.

15.1.5 We will be liable only for Damage occurring during carriage on flights or flight segments where our Designator Code appears in the Ticket for the flight or flight segment concerned. If we issue a Ticket or accept Baggage for carriage by another Carrier, we do so only as agents for the other Carrier. In the case of Checked Baggage, however, you are entitled to make a claim against the first or the last Carrier.

15.1.6 If you have concluded the Contract of Carriage with another Carrier and if we carry you or if you concluded the Contract of Carriage with us and you are carried by another Carrier (Codeshare) and if damage occurred during such carriage, you may notify such damage to and claim damages either from us or the other carrier.

15.1.7 We will not be liable for Damage arising from the compliance with legal or official provisions, or for Damage arising from your non-compliance with the same.

15.1.8 Unless specified otherwise in these Conditions, we shall be liable to you only for recoverable compensatory Damages for proven losses, in accordance with the Convention.

15.1.9 We are not liable for any illness, injury, disability or death attributable to your existing physical condition or any deterioration in the same.

15.1.10 The contract of carriage, including these Conditions of carriage and restrictions on liability, also applies to our Authorised Agents, our employees and our other assistants and representatives. The total amount recoverable from us and from such Authorised Agents, employees, assistants and representatives shall not exceed the amount of any liability of our own.

15.1.11 Nothing in these Conditions of carriage shall waive any exclusion or limitation of our liability under the Convention or under applicable laws unless otherwise expressly stated in these Conditions.

15.2 Damage to Baggage and delay of Baggage

15.2.1 We are liable for Damage to Checked Baggage and for delay of baggage in accordance with the Convention. If the carriage is subject to the Montreal Convention, we are liable regardless of our fault. We are not liable for checked baggage if and to the extent that the damage resulted from the inherent defect, quality or vice of the baggage. In the case of unchecked baggage, including personnel items, we are liable if the damage resulted from our fault. In case of delay of baggage, we are not liable if we have taken all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for us to take such measures. We are only liable for Damage to Unchecked Baggage if this Damage has been caused by our negligence.

15.2.2 In the case of Damage to Checked Baggage or of its delay, our liability will be limited to a maximum of 19 SDRs per kilo; and in the case of Damage to Unchecked Baggage, our liability will be limited to a maximum of 332 SDRs per passenger if the carriage is subject to the Warsaw Convention/Hague Protocol/Montreal Protocol. If we are liable in accordance with the Montreal Convention, our liability for Checked and Unchecked Baggage and for damage and/or delay of checked baggage will be limited to 1'131 SDRs per passenger.

15.2.3 The limits specified in 15.2.2 with respect to the Warsaw Convention/Hague Protocol do not apply if we caused the Damage with intent or recklessly and with knowledge that such Damage would probably result.

15.2.4 In cases in which the weight of a baggage item was not recorded when it was checked in, we will assume that the total weight of the Checked Baggage did not exceed the free baggage allowance for the class of travel concerned. If you declared the item in writing to be more valuable than this when checking it in (and paid the appropriate additional fee), we will be liable for any Damage to this item up to the higher amount declared.

15.2.5 You are liable for damages caused by your Baggage, if they are due to your negligence. This holds true for any Damage caused by your Baggage to other persons, to the property of third parties or to our own property.

15.2.6 We are not liable for any Damage to items which cannot be surrendered as Checked Baggage in accordance with 8.3 above, including fragile or perishable goods or particularly valuable items such as money, keys, medication, jewellery, precious metals, computers, electronic devices, securities or other valuables, business documents, passports, other identification papers or samples. Our liability for any Damage to items which cannot be surrendered as Checked Baggage in accordance with 8.3 above, is limited in international transportation on routes to and from the U.S. to that allowed under the applicable convention.

15.3 Personal damage or injury

Should we be liable for your death, bodily injury or other risks to health, then the terms of the agreement and of the Directive (EG) 2027/97 in the version amended by the Directive (EG) 889/2002 (provided it has come into force in Switzerland) and the following Conditions shall apply.

15.3.1 We shall not invoke any limitation of liability with regard to any claim for recoverable compensatory damages arising under Article 17 of the Convention.

15.3.2 For any claims up to 113'100 SDR's we shall not avail ourselves of the defense that we or another carrier were not at fault causing the damage.

15.3.3 Unless otherwise provided in 15.3.1 and 15.3.2 above, we reserve all defences to such claims available under the Convention and the applicable national law. With respect to third parties, we also reserve all rights of recourse against any other person, including without limitation, rights of contribution and indemnity.

15.3.4 We will compensate you or your next-of-kin for the Damage actually suffered, provided such Damage is not covered by insurance policies or similar institutions which can themselves make a claim of recovery against us. We will also compensate you for moral damages in accordance with the applicable law.

15.3.5 Should you suffer an accident aboard one of our aircraft and be killed, be wounded or suffer other bodily injury, or should such an event occur aboard a flight for which we are shown as the Carrier in the document of carriage, we will make, within 15 days of determining who is entitled to compensatory damages, make an advance payment to meet immediate financial needs.

The amount of advance to be paid will be determined by the degree of damage or injury suffered. In the event of death, it will amount to 16'000 SDRs per passenger.

15.3.6 The payment of such an advance shall not constitute any acceptance of liability on our part. We may also deduct such payments from any subsequent amounts which we are required to pay as a result of any liability on our part. This advance payment will have to be repaid if it is subsequently proven that you caused or contributed to your own death or injury through your own behaviour, especially through negligence on your part, or if your death was caused or contributed to by an existing sickness or impairment. The same shall apply if the person receiving the advance payment caused or contributed to the death or injury through negligence, or has no entitlement to compensatory damages.

15.4 Liability in the case of delay

If we are liable for your delay, our liability will be limited to 4'694 SDRs per passenger in accordance with the Convention. We are not liable if we took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for us to take such measures. Please note that Art. 9 of these Conditions may also apply in cases of delay.

15.5 Liability in the case of codeshare flights

In the case of flights operated by us as codeshare services in association with another Carrier, we will be liable to those passengers who concluded a contract of carriage with us and on whose Tickets we are shown as the Carrier by our Designator Code. We shall only be liable for damages towards passengers of our codeshare partner if we are the operator of the flight on which the damage occurs (see also Art. 15.1.6).